CONDITION: Near Fine (see table below for details). Some sunning and edgewear to boards and spine. Top corner of front board torn with small crease/tear without loss. Hint of sunning to pages and plates, still in nice condition internally. Collated and complete. A very nice copy! *Photo(s) given of actual book.

CONTENTS: This scarce and highly sough-after edition of Nibelungen is perhaps the single work for which the prolific artist C. O. Czeschka is best known. Czeschka (1878 - 1960) was a member of the Wiener Werkstätte, a poster artist, graphic designer, illustrator and typographer. Between 1894-99 he studied under Christian Griepenkerl at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna 1902-07 . From 1907-43 he taught as a professor at the School of Applied Arts in Hamburg. Czeschka designed jewelery and lacquer paintings , created numerous woodcuts , worked as a decoration and costume designer for the stage and is considered one of the leading printmakers of the Viennese secessionist / art nouveau .

The work includes 8 double-page part-colour plates by Czeschka, plus woodcut devices and decoration. The gilt colouring is especially impressive. There is a little wear to the boards, but internally the work is in nice and bright condition. Rare and highly collectable!

"...o ne of the most important and most compelling examples of modern book art of the turn of the century, in which the concept of an overall artistic design of the book is realized in a perfect manner. " (Heller , p 188).